Resilient wheel.



W. A. SUNNENTAG.

RESILIENT WHEEL.

APPLlcATloN FILED SEPT. 25` 1915.

1,173,885. vFatemiF610. 29, 1916.

I 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

W. A. SONNENTAG.

RESILIENT WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 25. 1915.

1,173,885.- Patented Feb. I 1916.

2 SHEETS- 2.

invase@ Y FQ.

RESILIENT WHEEL.

Application filed September 25, 1915.

' To all whom t may concern Be it known that l, WILLIAM A. SONNEN- TAG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boyd, in the-county of Chippewa and State of lVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Resilient iVheels; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to improvements in resilient wheels.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of resilient wheels and to provide a simple, practical, and comparatively inexpensive spring wheel designed for use on automobile and other motor vehicles, traction engines and analogous machines as well as on street cars and various other conveyances and equipped with a plurality of' cushioning springs located.

within lthe central. portion of the wheel so as to be protected from dust, dirt and the like and arranged to distribute the various strains at all times throughout all of the springs so that no one ot' the springs will be subjected to excessive strain.

A further object of the invention is to provide a resilient wheel of this character adapted to obviate the necessity of employing pneumatic tires and capable of enabling solid rubber or other tires to be used and of aii'ording the desired resiliency of pneumatic tires, without the use of such pneumatic tires.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction `and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion and minor details of constructionmay be resorted to without departing fromv the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of va wheel constructed in accordance with this invention, portions of the inner and outer side plates being broken away, Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken at right angles to Fig. 2, Fig. 1 is an elevation illustrating another` formV of the resilient wheel, parts of the side plates being broken away, Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 219, 191.6.

Serial No. 52,716.

view illustrating-the manner of mounting the outer' coiled spring.

YLike numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive and Fig. 5, l designates a wheel provided with an inner rim 2 and having spokes 3 extending outwardly from and mounted on the inner rim and connected with an outer rim or elly 4l: which carries a tire 5 of any desired construction. rVhile `the body ot' the wheel is shown provided with spokes 3 it may of course be of any other desired construction to adapt it for the character of vehicle or machine on which the wheel is to be used.

Within the rim Q is arranged a hub ring constructed of suitable metal and provided at diametrically Iopposite points with four relatively ixed blocks 7 projecting inwardly from the hub ring and forming lugs for the attachment of outer straight flat springs 8 which carry outer relatively movable blocks 9. The terminals of the straight fiat springs 8 which are spaced apart by the outer relatively fixed blocks are connected by the same with the hub ring at spaced points around the same as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

The relatively xed blocks are provided with shanks 10 which pierce the outer hub ring and which are secured to the same by being headed at 11 but any other suitable fastening means may of course be employed. The inner portions 12 of the relatively fixed blocks are reduced to t in the outer ends of radially arranged coiled springs 13 which have their inner ends secured by bolts or screws 14 to inner blocks 15 mounted upon and extending outwardly from a central sleeve or member 16. The blocks may be secured to the sleeve or member 16 by the screws 14C or any other suitable means Vand the central sleeve member is adapted to receive an axle box or axle chain or it may be fixed to a driving shaft to enable the wheel to be applied to various kinds of machines and conveyances. rlhe inner blocks also form seats for inwardly bowed springs 17 which may consist of flat bowed springs or a series of leaves as desired to vadapt the wheel for sustaining the load to be carried and the said bowed springs which are provided` with central openings 18 have terminal slots 19 for the reception of fastening devices 20 for securing the outer ends of the bowed springs to the yieldably mounted blocks 9. The yieldably mounted blocks 9 are provided with outer shanls 2l extending through the angularly related springs 8 and forming projections or studs for engaging thev inner ends of outer coiled springs 22 extending rom the straight angularly disposed connecting springs 8 to the hub ring 6. The hub ring 6 is preferably provided with openings and the coiled springs 22 extend through the said openings 23 into sockets Yor recesses 24 formed in the. inner rim 2 of the body of the wheel. The various springs coact in sustaining the load which is distributed throughout the va-V rions springs andV carried by all the same so.

that in no position of the wheel is the load sustained only by one or vtwo of thesprings. rl`his will enable lighter springs to be employed and the resiliency of the wheel will be thereby materially increased.

Vrlhe springs are covered by inner and outer side plates '25 and 26 slidable onV each other and connected respectively with the central hub member or sleeve and with the inner rim of the body portion of the wheel.

rlhe outer plates 26 are preferably in the form of rings and have inner openings 27 of sufhcient size to clear the central member and axle 28 of the wheel while thek inner plates 25 are in the form of disks and may vbe arranged inside of the outer plates as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings or exteriorly of the same as hereinafter described. The inner plates are secured to the central member [or sleeve, one of the inner plates being preferably xed to the central member and the other being detachably mounted on the same by means of a collar'29 and set screws 30 but any other suitable Y means, however, may be employed for lation to the rim, oppositely bowed springs centrally connected with-the central memmovement in a mounting the inner plates.

VlWhat is claimed is Y l. A resilient wheel of the class described including a wheel body having .an inner rim, an inner member arranged centrally with resprings extending across the space within Y the inner rim adjacent to the hub ring, an f inner central member, bowed springs cenythesame, a central member, bowed springs connected between their ends with the central member and at their terminals with the straight springs between the ends thereof and coiled springs seated' against the bowed springs at the centers thereof and extending therefrom and connected with the straight springs at the terminals thereof.

' 4:. A resilient wheel including a body por tion having an inner rim, a central member,

bowed springs connected between their endsV with the central member and-'connected together at their ends andradially arranged coiled springs seated against the ends of the bowedfspring and interposed between, the same land the inner rim. Y

5. A resilient wheel'Y-including a body portion having an innerrim, straight springsY extending across the space within the linnerrim and connectedat their terminals with the same,a central member, :bowed .springs connected between theirends with` the central member and at their terininals'withthe straight springsv between the ends thereof,

.inner coiled springs extending from' `the bowed springs to the straight springs at the terminals thereof, and outer coiled springs interposed between the straight springs and the rim and arrangedV centrally of the said straight springs. f x

6. A resilient wheel including a body portion, a hub ring arranged within they body straight springs located within the hub ring and secured at their terminals `tothe sameby the said lugs, a central sleeve provided-with Yportion and provided withrelativelyffixedff lugs arranged at spaced points, substantially blocks, relatively fixed lugs vcarried bythe--VV straight springs,`innerV 'bowed springsA secured to the blocks of the sleeves and having their terminals connected with the yieldably mounted blocks, coiled springs interposed b etween the relatively fixed blocksand theiblocks of the sleeves, and other coiled springs Vinterposed Abetween the yieldably mounted -blocks and the hub ring. 1 2

In testimony vwhereofI aiiix my signaturer in presence oftwo witnesses.

l ,WILLIAM A. soNNnNrAo; Y

Witnesses: Y l

GEORGE NELSON,

JNo. W. Mursia.

v, Copies of this patent maybe obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommpssopner Ratents,

f y Washington. D. Cif 4 .-1 

